Tips for Bringing Your Dog into the Office

Are you one of those lucky people who works for a dog-friendly office? The trend has gained steam in recent years as many companies have seen improvements in morale, employee retention and recruiting.

Then again, there are challenges that come along with bringing your dog into the workplace. These include a distracted workforce, accidents in the office and overstimulation (for both pets and people). These aren’t criticisms, per se, but rather things to be aware of.

Below we will provide a few suggestions to ensure a safe and happy experience for your doggo and productivity-driven day for your coworkers.

Pre-Office Training

Before you bring Spot into the office, you’ll need to assess his personality around strangers and groups of people. If you have a very anxious dog who is terrified of crowds, it might be best to leave him at home. After all, it’s not just about what you want, it’s also about what is best for your pet.

Once you have determined that Spot is good with crowds and unperturbed by strangers, you can bring him into the office. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to keep a dog harness and leash on him for the first few visits.

Regular Potty Breaks

For the sake of your dog and everyone in your building, please only bring your dog in if he or she is properly potty trained. Trying to housebreak an animal in the workplace is a major headache and could lead to some embarrassing accidents. Nobody wants to be pulled out of an important meeting to clean up piddle.

But even when your pup can hold their bladder, it’s smart to take him or her out for regular potty breaks. Remember to take plastic bags to scoop up waste; otherwise your pet-friendly office policy could be short-lived. The bottom line? Don’t be ‘that guy’ who ruins it for everyone.  

Interim Dog Sitting

Sometimes you need to drop doggy duty to take care of something important at work. No problem, you say to yourself. I can find someone to take over for a short while.

Truth be told, you are probably right. But who should you pick? It’s best to select a coworker who is in love with your dog. The kind of person who lights up when Spot enters the office. Other coworkers might not be so keen on dog sitting, which is fine. No one should be shamed into dog duty.

Playing Well with Others

Every now and then you’ll probably have to leave Spot to his own devices. He’s a good dog, so you won’t have to worry about him chewing furniture or knocking over the trash cans. That being said, it is important to identify the personalities of other dogs in the office as well.

Maybe your corgi Spot is a friend to all, except your coworker’s dachshund Meredith. The instant they see each other, it’s nothing but snarls and yipping. When you hear this commotion, all you can think about is the awkward conversation you’ll be having with HR.

If this is the case, there is a simple solution. Sit down with Meredith’s owner to talk about bringing the dogs in on alternate days or weeks.

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